President Bush indicated Saturday that he would be enthusiastic to agree to a bigger raise for a children's health insurance program than the one he has planned, but he protected his veto of the growth of coverage accepted by Congress.

Bush's long-promised veto Wednesday set off an ideological clash concerning who holds accountability for extending health-care remuneration to uninsured children: the government or the private sector. For the period of his weekly radio speaks to Saturday, Bush called for cooperation but open no specifics.

"If putting poor children first takes a little more than the 20 percent increase I have proposed in my budget for SCHIP, I am willing to work with leaders in Congress to find the additional money," he said.

The congressional bill would pay out $60 billion over five years to make bigger health coverage for children of the effective poor and middle class, and it would pay for it with superior tobacco taxes. Bush has presented $30 billion, a 20 percent augment over current levels but not an adequate amount of to preserve to be had conscription in what is known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program, budget analysts say.

The program is managed by states within federal guidelines and serves about 6 million children.

An estimated 9 million children linger uninsured in the U.S., and the figure has been increasing as employers cut back coverage.

Bush continual to explain the appraise that he vetoed as "deeply flawed," challenging the plan was "an incremental step toward their [supporters'] goal of government-run health care for every American," which he believes is "the wrong direction for our country."

Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat who is the House majority leader, pointed out that most children enrolled in SCHIP receive coverage through private insurers who hold state contracts, even though the government subsidizes the benefits.

"The truth is, America's largest private insurance lobbying group supports this bill -- as do America's doctors, nurses, children's advocates and, most importantly 72 percent of Americans," Hoyer said in the Democrats' response to Bush's address.